NTSB BFO93FA049 — 1993-03-17 · BECKLEY, West Virginia, United States

N159PC has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (AMERICAN CHAMPION AIRCRAFT 7GCBC, built 2006), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N159PC BRITISH AEROSPACE BAE 3101 Minor

Probable cause & findings

FAILURE OF THE CAPTAIN TO ASSURE PROPER ALIGNMENT WITH THE PLOWED PORTION OF THE RUNWAY (OR PERFORM A MISSED APPROACH). FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS, THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITION, INADEQUATE REMOVAL OF SNOW FROM THE RUNWAY WITH SNOW ALONG THE LEFT EDGE OF THE RUNWAY, AND THE LACK OF VISUAL CUES (PERCEPTION) FOR THE PILOT(S).

Factual narrative

AFTER VERIFYING WEATHER WAS ABOVE MINIMUMS FOR LANDING, THE CAPTAIN BEGAN AN ILS RUNWAY 19 APPROACH AT NIGHT IN CONDITIONS OF SNOW, DRIZZLE & RIGHT QUARTERING TAILWIND. INTERVIEWS WITH THE PILOTS & INFORMATION ON THE COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER REVEALED THE APPROACH LIGHTS WERE IN SIGHT BEFORE REACHING THE DECISION HEIGHT. THE PILOTS STATED THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN 'SLIGHTLY LEFT OF CENTERLINE,' THEN THEY 'LOST SIGHT OF THE RUNWAY EDGE LIGHTS.' AT ABOUT THAT TIME, THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN ON AN UNPLOWED PORTION (SIDE) OF THE PARTIALLY PLOWED RUNWAY, ABOUT 60' LEFT OF THE CENTERLINE. THE LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED & THE AIRPLANE SLID TO A STOP WITH SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGED. THE PILOTS HAD CHECKED NOTAMS & WERE AWARE THAT 130' OF THE 150' WIDE RUNWAY WAS PLOWED, BUT THE NOTAM DID NOT STATE THAT PLOWING WAS NOT CENTERED. ACCORDING TO FAA ADVISORY CIRCULAR AC 150/5200-30A, 'DETAILS' CONCERNING A PARTIALLY PLOWED RUNWAY SHOULD BE REPORTED VIA NOTAM. THE 2' SNOW BANKS AT THE EDGES OF THE RUNWAY WERE SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN THE RUNWAY EDGE LIGHTS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1993_BFO93FA049.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.